| Strathclyde Saturday Morning League: Division 1 | |
| 17th November 2007 Bogton Playing Fields |
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| Greenbank Utd | 0 |
| Windlaw | 1 |
| McCaig | |
Team: Lunny, A.Dougall, Thornton, Sinclair, Z.Dougall, McCann, McCaig, Carmichael, Baird (Stevenson), McKenna (Larkin), McGinlay |
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Windlaw travelled to Muirend with a full squad looking to avenge the 4-0 drubbing from last season’s corresponding encounter and to maintain their unbeaten league run.
The muirend surface was top class and ideal for good passing football, however the swirling, blustery wind would definitely cause problems for both teams.
Greenbank started well and took the game to Windlaw from early on. Windlaw expected this but Greenbank weren’t getting much joy as the defence stood firm. It took Windlaw’s creative players a while to get into the game and the final ball was not as good as it should have been.
As the half wore on, Windlaw started to take a grip of the game and enjoyed a large percentage of the possession, but again the final ball was elusive as we reverted to long range pot shots.
Windlaw should have taken the lead on 30 minutes when a corner caused mayhem in the Greenbank box. Eck McCaig’s shot was blocked and it looked like Kevin McCann would convert the rebound, but his drilled shot had a bit too much leverage and smashed off the face of the bar.
That was about it in terms of first half chances. Greenbank’s greatest threat was coming from the frequent free kicks awarded outside the Windlaw 18 yard box.
Half-time Greenbank Utd 0 Windlaw 0
Windlaw concentrated on the positives from the first half and set out to take all 3 points. It was a much more dominant period for Windlaw and you sensed a goal would come at any moment.
It came on 60 minutes courtesy of Eck McCaig. Good play down the left saw Danny McKenna set up Kevin McCann for a long range drive. McCann’s piledriver was too hot to handle for the Greenbank keeper as he parried into the path of 2 onrushing Windlaw players and McCaig got their before Carmichael could and finished from 10 yards. It was the decisive goal of the game.
The Windlaw defence were comfortable at this stage and Sinclair was doing a great job marshalling his men as the more creative players looked for a second goal.
It should have come on 80 minutes when a fierce Allan Dougall corner was smashed towards goal by Danny McKenna. Quite how the keeper managed to divert it onto the bar is a mystery. Another goalmouth scramble followed shortly afterwards and the Greenbank crossbar was rattled again. Greenbank were leading a charmed life at this point.
Windlaw couldn’t find a second goal and played out the last few minutes of the match comfortably, much to the frustration of the Greenbank players.
Full-time Greenbank Utd 0 Windlaw 1
Verdict – A good, solid performance from Windlaw, allowing Greenbank very little chances. This is the best Greenbank side we've faced in a few years. As the game wore on, it was obvious 1 goal would settle it and we were always confident we had that capability. It can’t always be pretty, sometimes the sleeves need to be rolled up and hard graft is necessary. This was definitely an “ugly win”, as they put it.
MOTM – Colin Sinclair. Sinky is enjoying a fine season with consistently good performances. Used all of his experience in a tight game and covered well when Zanda Dougall was occasionally having difficulty with Greenbank veteran Alan Stewart. Generally marshalled his defensive team well in difficult weather conditions. On course for a personal accolade if this level of performance is maintained.
